The new CEO of the network of 16 community health clinics serving San Diego, Riverside and Imperial counties said Wednesday the clinics have exceeded the national goal for control of high blood pressure.
Henry N. Tuttle, who joined the Council of Community Clinics as president and CEO last month, said high blood pressure was under control for 67 percent of the 719,000 patients treated in 2013, six percentage points higher than the national goal for 2020.
For diabetes, only 26 percent of patients had poor control of the condition, down from 34 percent as recently as 2010. The national goal is 16 percent by 2020, and one of the clinics has already beat that target.
Tuttle made the remarks at an open house at the council’s Mission Valley headquarters to recognize National Health Center Week.
He said the 100 clinics supported by the council are “local engines for healthier communities,” delivering health care to under-served communities at 50 percent of the typical cost. He said two thirds of the patients served live in poverty, and even more lack insurance.
“Our goal is to address unmet needs and improve the health-care delivery system,” he said.
Tuttle warned that these benefits are at risk because national funding for community centers will end in 2016 unless it is reauthorized by Congress.
The private, non-profit association was founded in 1977. Among the 16 member clinics are Borrego Health, the San Ysidro Heath Center and North County Health Services, and there are a total of 100 clinic locations in the network.